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#857409 02/18/14 02:46 PM
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Koala
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Koala
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to all or none,

Recently in Agora of Buddhism ,for the first time I spoke of faith.
Being a cerebral person .faith ,I beleive is the opposite .

I have made some research on the subject,and shall share with

you what I have learned.

loong
buddhist,refuge taken(pretty similar to faith)

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Koala
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Koala
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To all or none,

The basic Faith in Buddhism is in The Triple Jewel.
Buddha,Dharma,Sangha.

Buddha :the awaken one ,
Dharma: the teachings of Buddha,and additional data from arahats etc.
Sangha: Monestary ,temple ,also the sum of all Buddhists in the world.
So this is the first post ,More will follow.

loong
buddhist ,man of faith

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Koala
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Koala
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To all or none,

Last nite when saying my Taking Refuge prayers,it came to me ,how come my faith had grown so majesticly.
I have been listening to a singer called Khrisnha Das.This man's voice,the faith in the words,he even sang at some awards show.
He pushed down the wall of resistance ,the intellect.
Some more will follow

loong
buddhist

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Posts: 2,200
Koala
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Koala
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To. All or none,

What made me hesitant to really adhere to the Mahayana lineage,was a phrase that I had misinterpreted or misread.

In every human there is a Buddha.!
To me it sounded like any religion,like Christianity,Muslims ,and others that state that their God lives in them.
Since there is no God in Buddhism,I thought that branches of Mahayana took Buddha like a God.I did not want any of that.
I have read some masters that Buddha is everywhere,in every pebble of sand,etc.That I do not believe in .

My,I say My,understanding, of the first phrase,there is a Buddha in
Waiting ,that when the corpse:-) ,carrier ,will attain Enlightenment,the Buddha shall rise.The carrier will have become
A Buddha maybe more of an Arahat.

Again ,I always speak for myself ,my form of Buddhism,my own lineage.Buddha said to do so..So I am doing it.
Do you know what is fantastic about Buddhism,no DOGMAS......
no absolutes,no one possesses the REAL TRUTH.

Man I love Buddhism.

An effervescent loong

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Chipmunk
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Chipmunk
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So interesting you brought up faith, as I was just reading a chapter in a book by Tenzin Palmo on faith in Buddhism that was the best I have ever read on it. I will review the book next week when I am done. But as you have said, faith in Buddhism is not the same as it is in other religions. We are not asked to believe in anything on anyone else's say so. Instead we are asked to 'test' the teachings, 'test' our teachers, 'test' the practices, and decide for ourselves if they align with our own experience of the world and our mind.

As we test, if we do find them to be true, we then gradually develop the faith to provisionally accept things that at first we are not sure about. So for example, for most people when they first read teachings on impermanence, they immediately nod their head, this speaks to our experience of the world. So then when this is connected to teachings on meditation or mindfulness, that by watching our mind we can see the impermanence of each thought and emotion, and thus begin to choose how we react, we are willing to give it a go. Then if we truly practice, we will see that indeed, this is the case, and we are willing to try more.

This is how Buddhism asks us to proceed. Bit by bit, and if we find something that at first we do not understand, we set it aside for awhile, and come back to it later. Perhaps it will make more sense then. Tenzin Palmo mentions that a lama she studied with said that we should test the teachings for at least 3 years, and a teacher for 12! So there is a lot of testing in Buddhism:-)


Lisa Erickson, Buddhism Editor
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Teaching and Private Session Website: Enlightened Energetics
Blog: Mommy Mystic
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Koala
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Koala
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To all or none,

Wikipédia defines Faith in Buddhism as follows:

Faith(Pali:Saddha,Sanskrit:Sraddha) is an important constituant element of the teachings of Gautama Buddha-in both the Theravada and Mahayana traditions.The teachings of the Buddha were originally recorded in the language PALIand the word SADDHA is generally translated as "faith". In the teachings,SADDHA is often described as :

-A conviction that something is
-A conviction to accomplish ones goals
-A sense of Joy deriving from the other two.

While faith in Buddhism does not imply "blind faith" Buddhist practice nevertheless requires a degree of trust, primarely in the spiritual attainment of Gautama Buddha .Faith in Buddhism centers on the understanding that the Buddha is am Awakened being
on his Superior role as Teacher.in the truth of his DHARMA
(Spiritual teachings,) and in his SANGHA(Community of spiritually developed followers)
FAITH in Buddhism can be summerised as faith in the Three Jewels :
the BUDDHA,the DHARMA,the SANGHA.(as described in a prior post),
It is intended to lead to the goal of Enlightenment ,or BODHI,and NIRVANA.Volitionally, Faith implies a resolute and courageous act of will.It combines the steadfast resolution that one will do a thing with the self confidence that one can do it.

As a counter to any form of "blind faith".The Buddha 's teachings included in the KALAMA SUTRA .exhorting his disciples to investigate ANY teachng and to live by what is learnt and accepted ,rather than beleiving in something simply because it is taught.

loong
man of faith,buddhist

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Chipmunk
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Chipmunk
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I forgot to mention the teacher's testing of the student as well...all of Mahayana Buddhism is very much centered in a teacher/student dynamic. And just as the student is asked to 'test' the teacher's teaching in their own life, and not simply adhere to them through blind devotion, so the teacher also tests the student.

Often someone asks to be taught, but in fact does not really want to open up to learn. They are not ready to let go of aspects of their ego, and really just want to accumulate practices or feel 'special' through association with the teacher in some way. They want praise from the teacher, as opposed to true teaching. Usually this is the case especially at first, but over time, as the student practices more, they will mature into a deeper understanding of what is being offered.

Becoming empty is not an easy thing! There are so many ways our ego can co-opt our spiritual path and we can become arrogant.


Lisa Erickson, Buddhism Editor
Buddhism Site
Teaching and Private Session Website: Enlightened Energetics
Blog: Mommy Mystic
Joined: Sep 2012
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Koala
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Koala
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To my dearest Teacher,

there is a saying in French :That goes like this.
Never wash your dirty clothes in public.

dDo you know that all my life,I was my teacher.
Imagine ,the humility for me to ask someone to guide me .
You are the teacher,I am the student.I will not doubt your words,
however,as a Buddhist ,I am entitled to question my beliefs regarding yours.We are about 4000 miles apart.the net cannot convey the tones of the words exchanged,youbeing English ,me being French

Loong
Student,Buddhist,living in this Now.

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Chipmunk
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Loong, I am not sure what you think we are disagreeing on here, I did not see any disagreement? I was simply adding on something to my own comment that is usually included in Buddhist teachings whenever faith and teaching is discussed - the student's testing of the teachings, the student's testing of the teacher, and the teacher's testing of the student.

So when you say 'I am entitled to question my beliefs regarding yours' I am not sure what belief you are referring too (although of course I agree with your right to question anything I say, but you seem to be referring to something specific here, and I am not sure what?)


Lisa Erickson, Buddhism Editor
Buddhism Site
Teaching and Private Session Website: Enlightened Energetics
Blog: Mommy Mystic
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 2,200
Koala
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Koala
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Dear Teacher,

Peace is the word.Metta is the word,

Your lineage is Tibetan,Tibetan buddhism does not turn me on.
I agree with most of what Thich Nhat Hanh writes,but I do not consider myself ,as of any lineage.That I have written a few times.

loong
just a simple buddhist

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Koala
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Koala
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To all or none,

I remember a tv show{sorry don't remember the real word this morning}by a renowned organisation on a Master in Ikido.
The man was 90 years old and with the power of his Chi he could defend himself against 20 men ,without even touching them.
They would run to him and he would just make the move of removal and see the attacker stop like he hit a brick wall and go whereever the Master had shown.

The person in charge of that documentary asked the Master ,about his Chi.The Master responded by saying : It took me 40 years to find my Chi and 30 years to control it.

All this writing is to show ,how each person ,progresses on his way to insight then to enlightenment.Now I remember it was National Geographics that did the documentary.

loong
one step at the time ,one tought at the time.

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Chipmunk
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Loong, we are having some sort of misunderstanding again. I honestly do not know what you are talking about! What is the disagreement in this thread, I do not understand what you are writing about?

I could easily let this go, but because this keeps happening I would like to get to the bottom of it. Where exactly do you think there is a disagreement in this thread? Please include the phrases from your statements, and the phrases from mine, that you think disagree. I think it is important that we get to the bottom of this, so that we can sort out if these misunderstandings are happening because of language issues or something else.


Lisa Erickson, Buddhism Editor
Buddhism Site
Teaching and Private Session Website: Enlightened Energetics
Blog: Mommy Mystic
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